Challenge: Falling, Failing
by Splash and Misty
Summary: Challenge for Children of the Shadows (NightClan). T for Warriors.


One night, the night of the half-moon, StarClan spoke. One night, at the moon pool the prophecy was revealed. One night, to all the medicine cats, the answer was clear. The next morning, they told their leaders, and an action plan was sprung. Everyone was told. Only four rose to the rescue. These cats were the chosen ones.

 _4 paths of paws lead to the sun,_

 _The source of life and bringer of good._

 _From each line of warriors,_

 _1 will step forwards to take the challenge._

 _Each strong and brave,_

 _Successful and clever,_

 _The key to peace and warmth._

 _A warrior's dreams to be crushed and demolished,_

 _A kit to be lost to an endless grimace._

 _For the price of life,_

 _An endless amount,_

 _So the clans may live forever._

 _Happy._

 _Without doubt._

The prophecy was most peculiar, and not at all like the others StarClan had sent, but the message was still clear. The four cats who spoke up, one from each clan, were the ones who would save the clans, bringing their individual clans life for all the moons should come. If all went well, no matter how many cats died, there would always be four clans.

I am one of those cats. My name is Frostwing of RiverClan, and I am one of the four cats who wanted to do something about the prophecy, even before I was told the exact words. Our medicine cat, Sundapple, had just stood on top of the willow stump and announced, "There is a prophecy! What do you guys think?" And unlike everyone else, instead of letting out meows of shock and confusion, I said, "Well, what are we going to do about? I vote for action!" After that, I was suddenly prophesized and I don't regret anything.

Except for the fact that I have been forced to live on the island with the other three cats. Smokebreeze of ShadowClan; Poppystorm of ThunderClan; and Skyflight of WindClan. Every single one of my camp mates are strange and weird. It feels like I'm the only sane one here. Yesterday, we had a discussion about hunting. It started when I brought back a baby trout.

"We shouldn't kill innocent babies!" Skyflight had yowled. "Put that thing back in the lake, Frostwing!"

"It's dead now," I pointed out. "Besides, it's just a fish."

Then Smokebreeze padded over to Skyflight. "No, it's not! It's a living animal just like us! We shouldn't kill prey!"

"We'd starve!" I'd responded, rolling my blue eyes. "What's the big deal?"

Poppystorm's eyes widened, and she cried, "Don't you get it? They don't deserve to die! If a monster kills them, then it's fine, but we should all pick on someone our own size."

"So I should kill a badger." I retorted. "Then would you be happy?"

Smokebreeze sniffed. "Ew. That would taste horrible. You're welcome to eat one yourself, but please don't bring it to camp."

"Why am I stuck with you guys?" I shrieked. "All you do is act like the wierdos you are!"

When the gathering came, I got in big trouble for yelling at them. I still don't see why I got punished! I was only speaking the truth! But it seems like I don't matter these days. Only them. At this point, I had tried avoiding them at all costs. I only got in more trouble. "You have to work with them to save us!" Nightstar of ShadowClan had mewed hysterically. Then my leader, Silverstar, added, "You must eat and catch only frogs for a moon!"

You probably wonder why I even did this in the first place. It seems like I was some stupid maniac who decided to be a prophesized cat even though I'm not.

That struck a little close to home. Let's forgot about being part of prophecies. Let's focus on what happened next. What happened next? There's a big fox attack, and this kit from my clan named Petalkit kills a fox and saves us all. Um, excuse me? She's just a kit! But now everyone is saying that she should take my place. I you were in my position, you would be furious, snapping at anyone who got too close. _I_ was the one who spoke up, not Petalkit! She wasn't even born. She can't be it. Yet she's weird like the others, and you can only wonder...

The evening, that very same day, I quit. I surrendered my position to Petalkit, and the little kit took it gladly. She's welcome to the island of weird cats from other clans who you don't know. She's welcome to suffer how I did. But I am not the prophesized cat who I thought I was. If it were me, I would be weird, too.

...

Poppystorm. Poppystorm. Poppystorm. The cat who is in a prophecy. The cat who wants to be best friends with a cat who says she's crazy. Why did I ever fall for Frostwing? What made me like her as a friend? The way she scorns me... Says I'm stupid... I shouldn't like her. But I do. I've always been caught on the alone side of every argument in ThunderClan. As the cat who doesn't like killing innocent creatures, but does it still so her clan can eat before going off to find myself some herbs to chew. I've even discovered these cool ones, which I gave some top-of-my-mind names: Broccoli, and peas. Plus cauliflower. Cauliflower is good.

 _4 paths of paws lead to the sun,_

 _The source of life and bringer of good._

 _From each line of warriors,_

 _1 will step forwards to take the challenge._

 _Each strong and brave,_

 _Successful and clever,_

 _The key to peace and warmth._

 _A warrior's dreams to be crushed and demolished,_

 _A kit to be lost to an endless grimace._

 _For the price of life,_

 _An endless amount,_

 _So the clans may live forever._

 _Happy._

 _Without doubt._

My one question is the prophecy. Where do I fit in? What will I do? All it talks about it the cats in it and the reward. Nothing about the problem that I'll have to solve. There's one cat in the clan who's vaguely like me; My sister, Misttail. She eats prey, but she isn't a big fan of killing it. She loves her clan, but doesn't see all the bloodshed necessary. We have a lot both in common and not in common. I think she might be the cat in the prophecy. Not me.

But there's no point. I'm the one who spoke up. I'm the one who's stuck in all this mess. I don't really like Petalkit or the others- they come from the other clans, so duh- but we're all so much alike. I can't help but enjoy spending time with them. Even broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower. We all like them. I'm even working on making a garden of them on the island right now. But I don't feel like I'm succeeding.

In fact, I bet you my life that I'm failing. Failing me, failing everyone. It's like falling into a pit. You can't see the bottom. It's covered in darkness, a place where the sun does not reach. But you cannot see the top, see the trees. I'm hopelessly stuck, waiting for something to catch me. Every day I wake up, fearing I have missed the chance for me to save everyone. Fearing I will hit the bottom of this pit and die, just how Frostwing was forced out of the Four. Petalkit is... Interesting. But she isn't in a pit like me; I can tell. Neither are the others. Oh, why can't my problems just be solved already?

I'm smart to figure out the part of the prophecy about the warrior and the kit. Frostwing was the warrior who lost the prophecy, and Petalkit was the kit dragged into all this hard responsibility. But I still don't see the part about the sun. I bet everyone has already figured it out, and just not bothered to tell me. Because I'm boring, a big drag, and totally not worthy of the honor of my life. Where did everything go wrong?

My garden is finished. The four of us are waiting for enough to grow before we harvest any, though, so we're still scavenging to find our plants. Petalkit even discovered a new one! She's named it brussels sprouts. They aren't as tasty as broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower, but they're very popular and will grow in almost any terrain, as we've discovered. And Petalkit isn't even Petalkit anymore- now it's Petalpaw. A, um, interesting name for an interesting cat, I must say.

My life is hard. Sometimes I want to just curl up and die. Everything is strain, everything is stress. Why can't anything be simple, especially when it comes to me? I'm a mouse-brain, aren't I? Just like Frostwing I'm falling. Just like Frostwing I'm failing. At most, all I can do is make poems of how everything is going wrong. Each night I sing one quietly to myself, thinking of just how true they are.

 _"Missing,_

 _Lost in my life,_

 _Where nothing is ever simple,_

 _Full of conflict and strife._

 _Missing,_

 _Waiting to be found._

 _To be brought back to my home,_

 _All safe and sound._

 _Plenty of cats could be me,_

 _But none of them would fail so._

 _I always lack the courage,_

 _To do what I should do._

 _I wish to be forgotten._

 _Stripped of all those tales._

 _Of how I failed everyone,_

 _When I was needed most._

 _Missing."_

That was the first I sang. I like how it highlight how lost I feel here, without a purpose. It also shows my weaknesses, and I like that. You might have guessed, but I've grown quite fond of all my poems. Each one helps keep me sane, and I enjoy thinking and singing them.

 _"Tales of the cat_

 _Who failed everyone._

 _Buzz around the clans_

 _Like bees._

 _Never had purpose_

 _Something I'd like to do._

 _At first I thought it might work out_

 _But better I know now._

 _Stories are like the wind_

 _Whispering lives_

 _That no one would remember._

 _Without_

 _Stories._

 _Tales of the cat_

 _Who should have done something._

 _Before everything was lost._

 _Like life._

 _Never thought I was capable_

 _Never believed in me._

 _I should have tried at least_

 _Before I killed everyone._

 _Stories like my life_

 _Should always be scorned._

 _No one should appreciate me_

 _Or the deeds I've done._

 _I killed_

 _Life."_

I like that one too. But one poem gets me every time, and I wish I was brave enough to yowl it to the stars and show everyone how useless I am so that they can find a replacement for me, someone who could actually save us from who knows what.

 _"Trapped by my life._

 _Knowing I'm not worthy._

 _Of the honor placed upon me._

 _Knowing._

 _I shouldn't be here._

 _Where everyone looks up to me._

 _Someone should replace me._

 _I have no courage._

 _Every moment of my life._

 _Is spent in fear._

 _Of how I've failed everyone._

 _Why don't they see it._

 _Why can't someone become me._

 _Why can't I become someone._

 _Before I kill us all._

 _I know I'll kill us all._

 _It speaks of courage._

 _Of skill and determination._

 _But not once did it mention._

 _Going through all this frustration._

 _The one time I felt safe._

 _Was in the nursery._

 _But never can I put paw in their again._

 _I should be a warrior._

 _I should be a star._

 _Yet I've failed them._

 _Yet I've failed them._

 _StarClan choose another._

 _Send another omen._

 _Please don't leave me here._

 _Where I'm surrounded by danger._

 _Every bird I see takes flight._

 _Every mouse I see don't die._

 _Ooooh, why can't I be replaced._

 _Ooooh, why can't I change._

 _No one's going to live with me._

 _In charge of saving them._

 _I bring shame to my clan._

 _I'm positive._

 _If no one wants to be me._

 _Why can't I be like them._

 _They say I have too many questions._

 _They probably hate me._

 _At least I know some other cats._

 _Who like vegetables, like me._

 _Every is a routine._

 _Always dragging down me._

 _If only a cat could see._

 _Someone else would replace me."_

That's right. I'm a failure. I'm worse then Frostwing and Petalkit. I'm worse then ShadowClan. Oh, why did I speak up? Why did I doom the clans?


End file.
